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Release No: 224-07February 27, 2007

Department Of Defense And Denmark Sign Joint Strike Fighter Agreement

Denmark has signed the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) production, sustainment, and follow-on development (PSFD) memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will govern the cooperative program arrangements for the next phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program. The signing ceremony took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, Feb. 27.

In a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Danish Minister of Defence Soren Gade added his signature to the agreement already signed by the United States, The Netherlands, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Norway, and Italy. The United States was represented by U.S. Ambassador James Cain.

This MOU provides a framework for future Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program efforts in production and beyond, and extends cooperation beyond the current system development and demonstration agreement between the United States and the other eight JSF partner nations. Denmark’s signing today marks the completion of three years of intensive multilateral negotiations, followed by national reviews and approvals by each partner nation, culminating in a PSFD MOU signed by all nine Joint Strike Fighter partners.

The Joint Strike Fighter is the largest DoD acquisition program to date. The F-35 Lightning II is a supersonic, multi-role, stealth fighter designed to replace a wide range of existing aircraft. Three versions of the aircraft will be built: a conventional-takeoff-and-landing variant, an aircraft-carrier version, and a short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing version.

In addition to preparing for future production and sustainment activities, F-35 Lightning II development efforts are ongoing. The first JSF system development and demonstration test aircraft has already successfully flown several test flights.